The first day of college is daunting for any student. But it can be especially intimidating for students who are the first in their families to go to college and may not know what to expect or what is expected of them.
That’s part of the motivation for the First-Year Scholars at Yale program (FSY), which is offered to students from first-generation low-income backgrounds. The six-week program helps prepare students for the transition to coursework at Yale by offering them a writing and research course and a quantitative reasoning course. It also introduces them to some of the many resources of Yale, including the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning and Yale’s libraries and collections.
Donors enabled the program’s launch in 2013 and have supported its continued growth. FSY has nearly tripled in size, from an initial class of 33 students to this year’s cohort of 93. The program is tuition-free, and FSY participants also receive a stipend.